Therefore the Lord says, “I will stand up for your cause. I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ¹  I will dry up their sea. I will make their springs run dry. ² 

But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” ¹ 

If then Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint ¹  against someone, the courts are open ²  and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another there. ³ 

among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe ¹  so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel ²  of Christ, ³  who is the image of God.

“‘You ¹  must not deal unjustly in judgment: ²  you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. ³  You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. ⁴ 

May the Lord be our judge and arbiter. May he see and arbitrate my case and deliver me from your hands!”

Lord, in the morning ¹  you will hear ²  me; ³  in the morning I will present my case to you ⁴  and then wait expectantly for an answer. ⁵ 

“So, once more I will state my case ¹  against you,” says the Lord. “I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. ² 

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign Lord.

Brothers and sisters, ¹  I offer an example from everyday life: ²  When a covenant ³  has been ratified, ⁴  even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.

But they will not go much further, ¹  for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres. ² 

For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

In all cases of illegal possessions, ¹  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ²  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ³  and the one whom ⁴  the judges declare guilty ⁵  must repay double to his neighbor.

“This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall, ¹ 

“Listen now to my argument, ¹  and be attentive to my lips’ contentions. ² 

his food is turned sour ¹  in his stomach; ²  it becomes the venom of serpents ³  within him.

But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked, judgment and justice take hold of you.

Offer the prescribed sacrifices ¹  and trust in the Lord! ² 

To you, O Lord, I cried out; I begged the Lord for mercy: ¹ 

Phinehas took a stand and intervened, ¹  and the plague subsided.